2) Eisenmond
by gmcampey
Summary: After the events of The Sleeping Cleric, Elantar and her companions venture into an ancient Dwarven mine in search of more Ogre necks to hew.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

This story, _Eisenmond_ , follows on from _The Sleeping Cleric_ : you can find this amongst my other stories. While the stories have continuation from one to another, I'm publishing them as separate arcs to keep separate the adventures that our party took, and the significant events that took place. This one is considerably longer than _The Sleeping Cleric_ , and will probably be released as nine or ten chapters (the former story was five).

We had a couple of changes in our party between this and the previous adventure. Jeff (Eldrann) decided that he wanted to re-imagine his character. He created a new Grey Elf Wizard at level 4 (which we'd all reached after the Demara's Fortress adventure). One of the characteristics of Grey Elves that he was particularly drawn to was how they looked down on other races (and even other Elves). He likes to play a character who is, in his own words, "a bit of a dick." I like to do this too; just with a different approach! Instead of ret-conning Taldir into the story, I thought I'd write Eldrann into retirement, and have Taldir turn up to sneer at everybody.

Jeff's wife (Kim) also wanted to give D&D a go at this point, to see what all the fuss was about. She was interested in playing a character who was a healer, so joined us as a Human Favoured Soul (Coralyn) with a focus on healing spells and abilities.

The rest of us continued as normal, each taking a new level in our existing class. The story picks up (after some preamble) on the way back to Torlynn from the fortress where party met Taran Goldstar.

* * *

 **Eisenmond**

 **** I ****

 _A forest, outside of Torlynn._

It was good to be alone again. Elantar was even beginning to enjoy her surroundings; when the others weren't with her, at least.

Until a couple of years ago, the only trees she'd seen in her life were gnarled, grey and stunted: hardened to the harsh conditions of the frozen north. They certainly weren't green, brown, yellow, red… or any other colour in between like the forest she was in now. She wandered the paths amongst the trees, marvelling at the array of colours and enjoying the freshness in the air. It couldn't be more different from Khirin Alithenen, but there was nothing that she missed about home.

The time alone had been the perfect distraction after the events at Eisenmond that had left them all feeling so incensed. She'd been out hunting most of the night for a particular beast, and the pelt that she'd claimed hung folded and draped over her shoulder. After returning to Torlynn, Elantar decided that her new cold weather cloak had to be made from its fur. It was a calculated insult, designed specifically to offend one person, and she was very much looking forwards to the reaction it would provoke. She thought about bringing the whole corpse back with her, and leaving its severed head on the pillow of the sleeping Gnome. There were two reasons that she'd simply skinned it there and then however: firstly, it was a lot less effort to carry an animal's skin than its whole body; secondly, Elantar herself had begun to change.

Almost three weeks had passed since she'd joined up with this company and, while she considered none of them to be friends, she was beginning to both value and respect them. Her choice of fur for the new cloak was a cruel joke on Boshley, she knew, but he seemed so fond of amusing himself with japery that she decided to have a joke at his expense. It was a perfectly reasonable response to what he had done to her. Bathing him in badger blood from a severed head was, as she was beginning to learn, a step too far.

Elantar was also beginning to earn the respect of some of the others. She was confident in her skills, and she'd proved valuable to the party over the past few days. She'd made a couple of mistakes too, of course, but most of them had all, for some reason, seemed to overlook her slip-ups. This had caught her off guard. She wasn't as easy on herself though, and she had made an extra effort to be on top of her game.

Eldrann hadn't come to the mines with them. He'd elected to remain in Torlynn with Taran Goldstar, the Wizard's Apprentice they'd rescued from Demara's Fortress. Poring over the stash of ancient writings they had recovered, he declared that he had more important business to attend to. Elantar suspected this wasn't the whole story though: the arrival of the first newcomer had intimidated all of them a little, but Eldrann most of all.

Two days after the party returned to Torlynn, another Elf Wizard arrived. He'd been looking for them: Nethril, Taran's mentor, had put the word out that some adventurers were in the area looking for news of his apprentice. Taldir had arrived in Torlynn assuming them incapable of anything. He was quite taken aback when he discovered that Taran had been found, albeit minus a hand, and was safely holed up in a room at _The Amorous Goat_ , one of Torlynn's more reputable inns. It didn't stop him looking down his nose at them all though. He insisted, much to everybody's dismay, that he joined them as they continued to deal with the Ogres that had been plaguing Torlynn and its surrounding area. This though, had given Eldrann a way out of any more adventuring, and he seemed set for a life of reading and cataloguing scrolls.

And so it was, that the companions once again numbered seven. Until the day after Taldir's arrival, that was.

* * *

 _Torlynn; one week earlier._

"Excuse me?"

An inquisitive face peered out from under a red hood. Looking closely, Elantar could see her bright green eyes were tired. She turned to walk away.

"Excuse me?" the human repeated, more irritably. Elantar turned back and stared down the stranger. The newcomer began to look shaken. Inwardly, Elantar smiled at the effect.  
"Well?" she asked, harshly. "You have my attention; what do you want?"

"Elantar? Stop frightening the poor girl…" Arden had just rounded the corner of the Smithy. She'd clearly been listening. The stranger breathed a sigh of relief. Elantar smirked and leaned casually against the side of the building.  
"Erm…" the young woman began, "I'm looking for an Orc."  
"To make you happy? You humans have questionable taste," Elantar responded.  
"I thought we agreed that I was better at talking to people?" Arden snapped. "I know a couple of Orcs," she said, turning back to the stranger, "well… Half-Orcs. Come and sit with me and we can talk." Elantar took out her dagger and began to sharpen it.  
"Let me know if my area of expertise is called for," she said with a wink. Arden put her arm around the girl and led over to a table outside the inn. Elantar sat on a nearby tree stump and pretended not to listen.

"What's wrong with her?" the newcomer asked.  
"None of us can really tell," Arden responded. "She's got a big chip on her shoulder about something though. She seems to basically not like anybody…"  
"She has an air of bravado, but quite possibly the saddest eyes I've ever seen. I don't mind admitting that she scares me a little though," she said, taking a seat.  
"She frightens us all in one way or another; we all suspect she's done some horrible things. Gravak's been looking very strangely at her for a couple of days now, and if even he's wary, well…" she tailed off as she noticed that the girl had began to breathe more quickly, and was struggling to get her words out.

"Gravak!" she finally blurted out. "He was one of them!"  
"What do you mean, ' _one of them_ '? Arden asked, confused.  
"I had a dream. Gravak, Chosen of Tontor, was there," she said.  
"What's a Tontor?" Arden asked, bewildered by the new word. The stranger shrugged her shoulders.  
"I don't know anything else about him," she said, "there were others too, one called Taldir, one known as The Badger… are you Arden?" The Bard began to look spooked.  
"How could you know that?"  
"It was in my dream… there were seven altogether. One is ice, blood and shadow; another a small yellow flower and an Elf whose path cannot be seen. I know it must sound strange, but I think I'm supposed to help you."

"You should come and meet us all," Elantar said, re-joining them. She was glad to see the girl jump at the sound of her voice. "I think Buttercup will surprise you."

"Who _are_ you?" Arden asked.  
"I am called Coralyn," she answered, but gave nothing else away.

"Ah, here comes the Mayor's lapdog," Elantar said after a few seconds of silence. Sigmund was cautiously approaching them from the town square, where a crowd had just began to gather.

"Umm… Miss Arden? The Mayor deman-uhhh… requests to meet with you again," he said as he reached them.

Arden noticed the gathering crowd in the town centre and gave a brief, knowing smile. Her plan had worked perfectly so far. Now came the hard part.

* * *

 _The outskirts of Torlynn, six days previous._

"To properly extort a Major from a backwater such as this," Arden began, "you need to win the people over."

It had been a slow journey back from Demara's Fortress. Buttercup, Boshley and Eldarion had all suffered at the hands of the Shadows and could barely lift their own weight. They were bringing a lot of plunder back with them, and the load was fairly evenly spread. Boshley's extremely weighty plate armour and tower shield were amongst the load that they all carried. But now, finally, they were at the edge of the small town of Torlynn.

"What do you mean?" asked Boshley, inquisitively.

"I've seen it before," Arden said knowingly. "We all heard the people here talking about Gustovan before, didn't we? He's lost their support. No doubt, once upon a time, they loved him, elected him Mayor and happily lived out their dull lives. Then the Ogres came. They looked to their beloved Mayor for leadership and discovered that he had none. They're looking for new heroes! Ogres are the cause of their recent troubles, and we're bringing back five Ogre heads. Give me a couple of days, and this town will be eating out of our hands!" None of them had seen Arden this excited before.

"But how?" Boshley asked, still confused. "We're just a bunch of strangers, and this is only five Ogres. It's not like all their troubles are over."  
"Watch and learn," replied Arden with a wink.

"Sigmund! How fares business? Has Gustovan managed to use the privy without your assistance yet?"  
"Excuse me?!" the Mayor's Paige was quite clearly offended.  
"Oh, come on Sigmund… we can all tell that it's you who does all the work. Does he ever let you sleep a full night?" Sigmund chewed his lip and said nothing. Sternly, he beckoned them to follow him to Gustovan's Manse.

"Well, if it isn't our brave adventurers!" the Mayor exclaimed, attempting to sound cheery, but only barely disguising his disappointment that they were all safe.

"Wonna sleep!" Buttercup bellowed. She'd done this every ten minutes or so on the journey back from Demara's Fortress.  
"I echo that," said Eldarion, dead on his feet. Boshley joined the two of them as they left to find their rooms. They wouldn't see any of the three for a couple of days.

"They had a hard time of it Mr. Mayor," Arden said with a sad nod. "The dangers we have faced can scarcely be believed!"  
"Here it comes…" the Mayor muttered under his breath.  
"In truth," Arden began, "we are all in need of rest, but hear me out first."  
"Go on…" said Gustovan reluctantly.  
"The Ogres… they were the least of your worries. Don't get me wrong; they were a problem, but there were worse things in that old fortress."  
" _Were_ a problem?" Gustovan perked up. Elantar noticed that he had chosen, for now, to ignore the rest of what Arden was saying.  
"Didn't I tell you?" Arden feigned frustration. "Ogres simply aren't a challenge for the likes of us. Their heads await you in our saddle packs. But there were _worse_ things in there. Let me t…"  
"No!" Gustovan growled firmly. "Ogres! We made a deal: Ogres were our problem! I'll not hear any more fanciful tales of Dragons or Basilisks or any other such nonsense! You're already robbing us blind!"  
"Mr. Mayor! If you'll just allow me to speak!" Arden stated. "We have experienced grave peril, and ask that you hear of the danger that has been averted."  
"I'll not be taken for a fool again! I'll have witnesses this time: the townsfolk are blaming me for everything, but they can hear your lies for themselves!"  
"Mr Mayor," Arden chuckled nervously, "I really don't think that'll be necessary, will it? I'm sure someone of your great wisdom can judge f…"  
"Silence! Await my summons at the tavern. I'll hear nothing further from you until then!" Arden sullenly nodded in agreement. In silence, the party left the room.

When they were back outside, Arden began to grin. "I can't believe he went for it!" she whispered excitedly. "We have him right where we want him."


	2. Chapter 2

****II****

 _Torlynn; six days later_.

It looked like every building in Torlynn had emptied.

They pushed their way through the crowds to stand with Gustovan on the raised platform in the middle of the square. Buttercup, well recovered from her injuries by now, dropped three large, heavy-looking sacks onto the ground. They hit the floor with a satisfying thud; the crowd quickly silenced themselves.

"People of Torlynn!" the Mayor addressed the crowd. "These brave adventurers _that I found_ have been dealing with our little Ogre problem!"

Some sections of the crowd cheered. Others appeared to, but in a sort of rehearsed, reluctant fashion. Other citizens of the town looked on sullenly.

"Miss Arden… I believe you had something that you wished to add?" She looked terrified. Elantar knew her better than that though.  
"Mr Mayor?" she squeaked, shuddering.  
"Go on! Nice and loud so that everyone can hear!" The Mayor was beginning to look very pleased with himself. Every pair of eyes in the crowd was fixed on her.

"People of Torlynn," she began nervously.  
"Wos she sayin'?" a woman a few yards away asked. People nearer the back began to murmur, seeming to lose interest. Sigmund began to laugh. Taldir looked furious. Coralyn seemed confused. Arden frowned and looked sidelong at the Mayor; seeing his smug expression triggered a sudden change in her. She breathed deeply.

"People of Torlynn!" She was getting there now, as the act began to drop away. "Here lay the heads of five Ogres that will trouble you no more!" Buttercup emptied two of the sacks to raucous cheers and applause. The heads had begun to fester, and maggots spilled from one of their mouths. The stench was almost unbearable. Gustovan was beginning to look less happy.

"We know that this is not all of the Ogres that have been plaguing you," she continued as the crowd quieted, "but rest assured," she paused for effect: "We will kill them all!" More cheers, and some applause greeted this announcement. Arden waited for quiet again before she continued. "Ogres, we know, are a cruel breed. They have hurt you, Torlynn, and I weep for your losses." She dramatically took a knee and bowed her head for a few moments. "I need to tell you, though…" she began again, retaking her feet with reluctance evident in her voice "of a more dire threat."

There was a mixture of responses from the crowd: some gasps of shock, some frowns of confusion, but everybody, without exception, gave Arden their attention. And of course, just as she'd manipulated it to be, the Mayor had given her the ear of every citizen of Torlynn.

"The Great Tentacled Beast of Arglorr!" she announced with gusto. Arden was greeted with, once again, a veritable smorgasbord of emotions: several astonished gasps, fear, bewilderment… a few small children began to cry; a man carrying a sack turned to leave, but didn't quite know how. Elantar also counted seventeen silent screams, five holding their heads in their hands, three people sinking to their knees and a small boy turning to his father to tell him that he needed the privy.

"This beast of legend," Arden continued, "plagued the lands south of the Wyvernwatch Mountains for a decade. It was thought that a great warrior had slain it long before our lifetimes, avenging the great many wrongs it had wrought on a hundred villages."

The crowd were enraptured, but several of them were quaking with fear, convinced they were next in line for the beast.

"Alas!" she snapped, almost singing her announcement, "the beast escaped its doom, and I despair to be the one to inform you, but it has come close! Too close for Torlynn…" Arden warned, her voice conveying desperate pity. "We discovered it in the Ancient Fortress!"

Cries were raised from the gathered people. Several tried to push through the crowd to leave, but were hemmed in by those frozen with fear.

"Wait!" Arden demanded, and paused for attention once again. "It is true, that The Great Tentacled Beast of Arglorr had put this town in mortal peril, but see this Torlynn!" The crowd now mostly looked confused, but a few dared to show signs of hope. "Buttercup? If you would?"

The head that fell from the third and final sack sent the crowd into raptures. All that could really be seen of it was a mass of tentacles and a few jagged teeth. Elantar shuddered as she remembered her encounter with the Carrion Crawler. It was nowhere near as dangerous as the mythical creature Arden had invented; yet it almost claimed her life all the same. The teeth marks in her shins were still itching painfully. Arden grinned and took a deep bow.

Gustovan re-took the stage. "Now, now!" he called, waving his arms. He looked to the tentacle-covered head and involuntarily shrank away. The crowd began to fall quiet again.

"Yes! We clearly owe these adventurers a great debt," he said reluctantly, trying to ride on the tide of favour Arden was creating, like the shrewd political beast that he clearly was. "They shall be suitably rewarded!" he announced, beginning to turn crimson with fury, but hiding it very well, if only in his voice. "Please make our guests welcome for their remaining time, before they once again _leave_!" He was a bit heavy handed with that final word, Elantar thought.

Arden had done exactly what she intended though: the people of Torlynn loved her, and by extension, the rest of the party too.

They remained in Torlynn for three days longer before the Mayor made it very clear that they were expected to finish what they had begun. In that time, Arden had made nightly appearances in _The Amorous Goat_ , and even an afternoon show at the much less savoury _Pig's Britches_. Her songs of heroism, which now included a hurriedly written new piece: ' _The Saga Of The Great Tentacled Beast Of Arglorr_ ', were catching on well and everyone in the town could be heard humming the tunes at one time or another.

They spent these days gathering what information they could about the mines, and found the townsfolk eager to provide them with all that they knew. There were thought to be roughly five Ogres in the mines: people disagreed over the exact number. Something that they were all sure of though was that these Ogres torched everything that they did not steal; several nearby villages were now a collection of burnt out husks and piles of ashes. There had also been talk of Kobolds working with them, which had awakened Boshley's rage for reasons that Elantar did not know.

Elantar spent the last night before they left on a task of her own…

* * *

"Useless…" Elantar breathed, discarding another scroll onto her rejection pile. At first, she had made an effort to make the room look undisturbed, but her growing frustration had drawn her into complacency.

Taran had, albeit quite ignorantly, given her hope that there would be answers in the collected knowledge that they had liberated from Demara's Fortress. She didn't doubt that there was plenty of Elven history here, but anything she found that she could understand was mundane in its details: equipment manifests; botanical and climate observations; vegetable growth techniques and the like. She was, quite simply, getting nowhere in her search for any details on controversies or executions in Khirin Alithenen; there wasn't even a single mention of her former home to be found.

In one hundred and eleven years living as an outcast, she had officially gleaned only two things: first, her parents were traitors; and secondly, they were executed before she was even a year old. The Elders would tell her no more than that. Nine years before her exile, Celal, her appointed watcher, let some more information slip. The night before she came of age, before being turned out of her homeland forever, she stole into the vault where the weapons of traitors to the King were kept, and left with her pair of Shortswords – the only inheritance she could hope for. She had those swords, and two names, but nothing else of her heritage. Celal had long since paid for sharing that information with his tongue, and was himself swiftly exiled from the land. She held little hope that he had survived.

"You know, Elantar…" the voice jolted her. "If you wanted to look for information, you could have just asked." Eldrann stood smirking in the doorway, his arms folded neatly over his chest. She whispered a curse and abruptly stood. She didn't mind being caught out so much; it was the being crept up on that bothered her. She hadn't quite realised how much time had passed either. Taran joined them in the chamber that they had hired to pour over the information, and was taken aback to see that the Wizards weren't alone.

"This is a private matter…" Elantar responded. "And I worked as hard as anyone to get hold of this stuff; why shouldn't I look through?" Taran glanced around the room, and angrily approached the papers that Elantar had been scattering around.

"Five days we spent sorting these!" he snapped. Eldrann clicked his tongue and shook his head in the corner. Elantar hadn't considered that she might have undone anything.  
"Neither of you are coming to the mine tomorrow… I'm sure time isn't something you'll be short of," she shrugged. Taran seemed to resign himself to defeat. He picked up a handful of parchment at random and leafed through it.  
"Fine…" he muttered. "In all honestly, it probably wouldn't take so long to sort again now that we have an idea of what's here." He handed the small stack to Eldrann as he approached.

"This is all Draconic," he said, looking through. "Geographic notes… yes… they're probably still all bunched fairly roughly."

"It's Draconic?" Elantar asked, glancing at some more writing. "This too?" she added, holding out the new sheet to Taran. He nodded his ascent, and took the parchment from her.  
"This is the lineage of the Priests of Boccob in ancient Gregaria," he declared approvingly. "A list of names and notable achievements."  
"So… of great value to… who?" Elantar replied.  
"Me for one," Eldrann announced proudly. "My mentor was descended from this line," he explained.  
"Being Draconic explains why I couldn't understand most of it…" Elantar added. "What else is here?"

"You could just tell us what you're looking for," Eldrann retorted. "And there was no need to wait for us to be asleep before coming to look. We _did_ leave this room locked for a reason, after all," he bristled.  
"Like I said," she rounded on him, "it's private."  
"Ilmerne…" Taran stated simply.

Elantar grimaced. Eldrann paused for a few seconds, and then slowly smiled knowingly, and nodded. "That was what your scars meant!" he added. "I knew I'd heard something about that before..."

"I didn't think I'd be called that again…" she snarled.  
"I recognised it in you straight away," Taran added, raising his hand as if in surrender, and with genuine pity in his voice. "It's an ancient, barbaric practice; marking the offspring of the treasonous… few tribes practice it in these times."

"I…" Elantar began. "I just want to know what happened to them," she stated simply, and was surprised to feel somehow lighter.  
"I can understand that…" Taran sympathised, "and I'm happy to help." Elantar paused and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Do you have names? A place for us to look for?" Eldrann asked. She looked up tight lipped, and finally relented.  
"Khirin Alithenen was my home," she breathed. Taran raised his eyebrows at this; he clearly recognised the name. Eldrann wrote it down.  
"And your parents?' he asked, his inkpen hovering over the parchment. She looked at them both.

"Not a word to any of the others…" she warned.  
Taran nodded in agreement. "If it was me," he added, "I wouldn't want everyone talking about it either."

* * *

 _Torlynn; on the morning of departure._

The crowds had gathered once again to see them depart.

Gustovan, resplendent in a peacock-feathered robe, had seen them off with a rousing speech, which Elantar had paid no attention to whatsoever. The people seemed to enjoy it though, and Arden claimed to have seen why he had become so popular in the first place. The Bard had though, for some reason, only seen fit to congratulate Sigmund on the speech, the Paige's face turning red as he smiled nervously.

They left the cheering townsfolk, weighed down with favours and with full water skins. Torlynn was still struggling for food supplies though, so they would have to find their own meals in the wilderness.

"Eldarion?" Arden beckoned to the Ranger as they left the town. "Score us something for breakfast, would you?" Confusingly, the usually cocksure Eldarion didn't take the opportunity to boast. He remained sullen and separated himself from the party. Boshley frowned, and repositioned himself closer to the Ranger: the two of them had become fast friends in the few days they'd spent together recovering at the inn. Arden shrugged her shoulders and checked her own bow instead. Without the help of the Ranger's skills, however, they struggled to find any worthy prey.

They had been making their way through fields and small woods for a couple of hours when Gravak suddenly stopped them.

"What is it?" Elantar asked. She was taking point alongside the Cleric, but had distanced herself a little because of the noise he was making.  
"Something behind those bushes. Something large," he replied. They could all hear it now: a deep, rumbling snarl and the footfalls of a large beast pacing. Almost everybody drew weapons.

"Do we really need to kill it?" Eldarion asked firmly. There had been something different about the Ranger the past few days: he'd been disagreeing with almost every suggestion, and he'd been distracted; as if he had somewhere else he'd rather be.

"Let's take a look at least: we don't want something dangerous leaping out on us," Arden suggested.

The party slowly moved through the undergrowth together, still having no view of their target. They could hear it though, and it could hear them: its snarls and growls were becoming louder as a warning. They broke cover, a good twenty feet or so from the beast. Elantar recognised it at once.

"It's a Dire Boar," she said. "Dangerous… and very territorial. If we back away slowly, it'll probably leave us alone," she added, taking a step back. She was pleased to see Eldarion, Taldir and Arden follow suit.

"BAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Buttercup bellowed, raising her axe and charging headlong at the Boar. Everybody froze in surprise for a few seconds before Gravak hefted his mace and jogged forwards to help her out. Boshley followed soon after that. Any hopes that they had of avoiding a conflict here were shattered.

The Boar met Buttercup's first axe swing on its horns, turning the blow aside. Taldir, Arden and Coralyn all readied their bows and loosed arrows, finding their marks, but not slowing the beast. The Boar gored at Buttercup, opening a deep gash in her side.  
"Fool…" Elantar muttered. Nobody could kill a Dire Boar in a head-on charge. She began to move forwards to support: she knew the Boar's vulnerable points and could get at them while the others distracted it.

Boshley and Gravak had caught up and engaged the Boar too, keeping it busy whilst Buttercup reeled from her injuries. She recovered her wits quickly enough to help the rest of the party overwhelm the Boar; Elantar didn't make it to the beast before it was bought low after several blows to its head and chest. It fell heavily to the ground, bloodied and with a number of arrows sticking out of its flank. Eldarion was the only one who hadn't taken part in the fight at all; he squatted where they'd first seen the Dire Boar, and chewed sullenly on some berries that he'd found somewhere.

"I'll get a fire lit!" squeaked Boshley, rummaging in his pack for flint & steel. Elantar helped Gravak to skin and prepare the corpse, much to Coralyn & Arden's distaste. They instead saw to Buttercup's wounds.

"I'm looking forward to a good Boar steak," Gravak exclaimed, tearing the fur from the carcass. Elantar had noticed that he'd been eying her strangely since the night she'd broken into his room. She knew that he knew… but was grateful that he seemed to share her wish to keep their business between them; no one else in the party need share in the information.  
"I prefer it sliced fine on bread," Elantar answered. "But a steak will do nicely."

Eldarion was watching them from where they had left their mounts and luggage. He was seeing that everyone's horse was tethered and fed, and took particular care with his own steed, grooming her mane as he stroked her. The hound that had taken to following him around was paying more attention to the Boar, and it sniffed hungrily around Elantar's feet.

The Boar had made for an excellent meal.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want any of this Eldarion?" Arden asked the Ranger, a mocking tone evident in her voice.  
"No," he answered firmly, "I'm fine with these." He had almost stripped the bushes in the clearing of all their fruit.

"There's plenty of this left that we didn't need," Gravak observed. "We should take it with us; it'll probably serve us for a couple more meals at least."

"Can we be going now?" Eldarion asked impatiently.


	3. Chapter 3

*** III ***

 _Eisenmond Mine, North-East of Torlynn; later that day._

The rocky cavern closed up into a short narrow tunnel. It was poorly lit, but Elantar could tell it was empty. Eldarion was with her, and he agreed to her assessment when she asked. She didn't need his opinion, but wanted to involve him in an attempt to pull him out of his foul mood after the incident with the boar. He signalled for the others to join them. Silently, Elantar moved further up the passage and came to a large wooden door.

Eldarion was trying to teach the rest of the party to move a little quieter, with mixed success. Taldir, Arden and Coralyn were doing OK, although they still weren't up to scouting standards. Elantar closed her eyes and clearly heard every footfall, easily distinguishing Arden's light skip, Coralyn's nervous shuffle and Taldir's confident, almost arrogant strides. There could be no mistaking the sounds of the other three: Gravak and Boshley were both wearing full plate armour and carrying shields; they would make the party easy prey for an ambush if they were in the van. Buttercup didn't even understand what it meant to be quiet, and she'd never grasp the concept. Elantar moved back towards them, signalling a halt.

"Large door ahead," she whispered. "There are Ogres the other side; at least two."  
"You understand their tongue, Rogue?" Taldir asked, surprised.  
"Yes, _Wizard_ ; I do." She replied contemptuously. "They're not saying much of any help though, just boasting about what they did on their last raid."

The louder members of the party held back from the door a little and let the others approach. The door was thick and heavy, and muffled most sound; if they could take the Ogres by surprise, this fight would go a lot easier. Even Buttercup seemed like she might have understood that.  
"Kobolds are fond of traps," Taldir whispered, "you should…"  
"The door's safe. I already checked," Elantar interrupted. Taldir nodded and began to back away towards the others.

Eldarion swung the door open, and Buttercup sprinted through, swinging at the first Ogre in her path. Boshley and Gravak followed closely behind, each engaging another Ogre. There were three altogether, and each looked panicked as they reached for their clubs, shouts of dismay and accusation leaping between them. They had sprung their trap perfectly.

Arden's flute began to sing as she played _Spring Meadows_ ; a cheerful, uplifting tune that strangely juxtaposed their situation. Elantar flanked the Ogre that Gravak had engaged, using the distraction to cleave a deep wound in the side of its abdomen: it howled with pain and panic. Eldarion had, for the first time since they'd left Torlynn, fitted arrows to his bow and actually joined the fight: his shots striking true and injuring the Ogres. Coralyn's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her. Nervously, she fitted a bolt to her crossbow, but seemed somehow unable to fire.

Taldir stepped forwards, an arrogant smirk on his face. "Allow me!" he bellowed, raising his staff and chanting in a short-clipped tongue. A burst of colour sprung forth from his hands and engulfed the closest two Ogres.  
Everybody froze. The Ogres were confused, but otherwise unaffected. Taldir, for the first time any of them had seen, looked embarrassed.  
"Err…" he began.  
"Typical wizard…" Elantar muttered, turning her attention back to the fight; the Ogre that she and Gravak were sparring with, reeling from several blows and looking doomed.

Buttercup's quarry pushed her aside and took a swing at Taldir. The Wizard panicked, dodged the blow and fell back to hide behind Boshley, sheltering with the Gnome behind his tower shield. Gravak caught a club swing on his shield, and turned it aside, overbalancing the Ogre. Elantar reacted, leaping onto its back and burying her right-hand sword up to the hilt in its neck. It fell, and would not move again.

A second Ogre fell moments later. Arrows protruding from its throat, it sagged forwards and Buttercup finished it off, cleaving its head from its shoulders with a single swing of her axe. It would save her doing it later when they claimed their trophies.

Panicked and enraged, the final Ogre swung wildly, keeping any of them from approaching it effectively. Eldarion was keeping up a steady rhythm, sticking it with arrows, but they weren't slowing it quickly enough. It was backing away towards a door on the far side of the chamber; if it managed to call for help, they could be in serious trouble.

Taldir stepped forwards once again, silent this time, but looking determined to prove himself. He muttered something under his breath and raised his left hand. The heat was incredible. The whole party flinched with surprise and shrunk back. An orange beam hit the Ogre square in the chest and burned a hole right through to the other side, where it scorched the wall at its back. It managed one last look of surprise before it fell. There was no blood; the large hole in the Ogre's chest had been cauterised by the heat.  
"Now, that was more like it Taldir!" Arden exclaimed. "What was going on with that cloud of colours before? Were you trying to decorate the place? I'll admit that it's a bit shabby in here, but was it really the time?"  
"Mention it not again!" Taldir snapped furiously. Arden gave a nervous laugh and turned her attention to the bodies. Even Elantar was impressed with the Wizard's final spell, but she wouldn't be telling him that.

"What do we have then, chaps?" Arden asked. Boshley and Gravak had begun raiding the Ogres' pockets immediately after the last one had fallen.  
"A bunch of coins… And the usual rubbish Ogres carry," Gravak answered.  
"This one had a pretty gem!" Boshley added. The largest Ogre's pockets had yielded a translucent ruby.

Eldarion looked sullenly around the room. "Such a waste…" he said. The Ogres had been sleeping on three large bear pelts, and Eldarion furiously chewed on his lower lip. "These noble beasts died to give bedding to these brutes!" Elantar approached with mock concern and rested a hand on his shoulder.  
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," she said. "They probably ate them as well," she added with a smirk. This didn't seem to console the Ranger at all.

"This is good fur," Coralyn suggested. "It's probably worth something to a dress maker. Can we fit it in a pack?"  
"I've got plenty of room," Gravak exclaimed. "Let's move on," he added."

* * *

The corridor stretched out silent before her. The light was low, but Elantar could make out a heavy wooden door at the far end, and three coming off of the corridor to the right. Slowly, she edged forwards, Eldarion preparing to follow. She began to enjoy the silence, before it was abruptly broken.

At first, she thought it had come from behind her, and she turned to scowl. The party looked confused. All of them except…  
"Boshley…" Elantar grimaced. The Gnome was watching her from the corridor, giggling. She examined the floor beneath her. It was solid stone. She took a couple more steps, and was still plagued with sound. Eldarion joined her, confused as she was.  
"What is that?" he asked. Elantar shook her head. Despite previous animosity between them, Eldarion and Elantar shared skills in scouting, and took the role seriously. They had been getting on far better since leaving Demara's Fortress.

"There is localised magic around your feet Rogue," Taldir proclaimed as he joined them.  
"Well? Can't you get rid of it?" Eldarion asked.  
"I see no real reason why I should…" Taldir countered dismissively. "And if I did want to, it's not possible. This is the kind of spell that simply burns itself out after a couple of hours," Taldir sneered. "You'll just have to ignore it."  
"How am I supposed to scout this place with this going on!?" Elantar whispered furiously.  
"It's not that loud…" Eldarion suggested, "and the doors here are well made."  
"You'll be fine," added Taldir, "just block it out."

She made to walk away, but every step bought more sounds of flatulence, and more giggles from Boshley. Elantar was livid, and began to run through options for revenge. As much as she hated to admit it, Taldir and Eldarion were right: the sound she was making didn't seem to be loud enough to alert anyone to her presence, so she simply got on with it. The Gnome's laughter was harder to ignore. She consoled herself by imagining how much he'd squeak with her hands around his throat.

The door nearest to the waiting party concealed at least two more Ogres. They were engaged in some kind of dice game, and one of them was beginning to sound frustrated. Elantar marked the door with red ink, and passed Eldarion who was listening intently at the next one. The third gave up no sounds, and received a smear of green ink. Behind the final door at the end of the corridor were the sounds of beasts; she could hear them even at this distance. She slowly approached, still producing irritating sounds with every footstep, Boshley's laughter still clearly audible from the chamber at her back, and splashed red ink on the door. She thought she could make out three distinct animals by their growls, snarls and barks, mixed with a continuous metallic rattle.

As she made her way back to report, she passed Eldarion, still listening at the door.  
"I can't hear anything," he whispered.  
"So?" Elantar responded. "It's not beyond the realms of possibility that it's an empty room or some sort of cupboard."  
"I just can't be sure…" he said. She couldn't work out what it was that was wrong with him today: first the misplaced concern for the boar, and now this… After taking a few seconds to listen carefully, she took out her green ink, dripped some just above the door handle and walked away.

The party agreed that they should take on the Ogres first; they were closest, and shouldn't be left to cut off their escape should they need one.  
"They're playing, you say?" Taldir asked.  
"Some sort of dice game," she replied, "they seem quite absorbed in it."  
"If we can take these ones by surprise too, they'll hopefully go down as easy as the three we just left behind," Gravak observed.

And that's exactly what happened. They were once again greeted by the sight of panicked Ogres, trying to find weapons and somebody to blame. These Ogres wielded axes, but neither of them had any opportunity to use them before they were cut down.

Taldir examined the game they had been playing, and the vastly different sized piles of coins on each side of the table.  
"Kraken's Bones!" the Wizard exclaimed.  
"Pardon me?" asked Coralyn, a little confused by his outburst.  
"A popular dice game the world-over. You really have seen little of the world, haven't you girl?" he sneered. "I can see why one of them was growing so angry." Coralyn frowned and turned away. Elantar suspected that adventuring hadn't quite been all she was expecting.

"Are you sure she's up to this?" Elantar asked, taking Arden aside. She made sure she was speaking loud enough for the girl to hear though.  
"She'll be fine," Arden responded.  
"Even if that's the case, do we need her? We just took down five Ogres without taking a scratch. I have to wonder why we recruited a healer at all."  
Everybody stopped what they were doing and waited to see what would happen next.  
"What?" Elantar asked the room. The uncomfortable silence continued.  
"Well, _I'm_ glad you're here, Coralyn," Eldarion announced.  
"Me too!" squeaked Boshley. There were some other general murmurs of consent, and Arden looked on, daring Elantar to say something else.  
"Alright… forget I said anything," was all that she did say, turning her attention to the loot.

"These axes are very well made," Gravak said, attempting to move the discussion on. "Too big for us to use, but probably of value."  
"This belt is surprisingly… _clean_ for one worn by an Ogre," Eldarion added, removing a band of precious looking leather and metal from one of the Ogre's waists.  
"Forty-one Silver, fifty-eight Copper," Taldir announced, as he finished counting the pile of coins.

* * *

"Come on!" Taldir whispered forcefully. "How long does it take to check a door?!"  
"You're welcome to do it yourself," Elantar snapped back.  
"I can already see there's nothing there, just get on with it!"

They had moved on to the second door in the passage; the one that Eldarion had heard nothing at. Fuming, she slowly turned the handle and the door swung open. If a quick glance were all that there was to trap finding, she'd have let Buttercup do it. Elantar knew little of Kobolds, but she did know that their traps could be more deadly than the creatures themselves. She wouldn't be taking any chances, no matter how much of a hurry Taldir seemed to be in.

The chamber was small and bare. "An empty room. Let's move on," said Eldarion. Gravak had begun to move into the chamber.  
"There's a trapdoor here," he said, unhooking his mace from his belt. Elantar had been examining the room, still alert for traps, and moved over to stand by the Cleric. Buttercup joined them, her axe drawn.

Elantar grasped the handle, with the Orcs standing opposite, ready to strike at anything that appeared.  
"On three…" she began. "One… two…"

* * *

It was a few seconds before she could hear anything again. Eldarion's hound was barking raucously, a couple of her companions were groaning in pain, and Arden was screaming in agony.

There had been a click, and Elantar hit the floor. Her reflexes had saved her, as the trapdoor was hurled over her head and crashed into the wall where it shattered into pieces. The conflagration had spread from the pit towards the door where the rest of the party cowered.

She stood, and was shocked to see that Gravak and Buttercup had both survived. These Half-Orcs were made of stern stuff indeed… They weren't unharmed, but not seriously hindered.  
"It was empty," Gravak said disappointingly.  
"I'm sorry… I…" Elantar began. She found herself lost for words.  
"Let us see to the others," was Gravak's only response.

They returned to the party, where Arden was still screaming. The fire thankfully hadn't engulfed her; it was the force of the explosion, however, that had thrown her into a wall and left her limbs bent at unnatural angles. Coralyn knelt besides her muttering, a feint grey glow about her hands.

Taldir glared accusingly at Elantar, but made no comment. Nobody else was seriously hurt, but everyone was concerned for the Bard.

After a minute or so, Arden's screams had subsided to sobs, and her arms and legs began to re-align. A few short seconds after that, she was able to stand again. Elantar looked at Coralyn with newfound respect.  
"I'm OK…" said Arden. "Thank you Coralyn; I wouldn't have managed any more without you," she added with a smile. Coralyn coyly returned the gesture.  
"There was nothing in the pit," Gravak said. "Let's try the next door."

This door had also been silent, and Taldir raised no objection this time when Elantar spent a good few minutes checking it over. As she worked, she reflected on her mistake; she simply didn't think to check the trapdoor itself for any devices. She couldn't explain it, even to herself, but her lapse in judgement had almost cost them greatly.  
"It's clear," she announced.  
"You're sure? No bombs on this one?" Taldir asked defiantly.  
"The problem with that trapdoor wasn't that I missed something, it's that I didn't check at all. And that's your fault," Elantar insisted.  
"My fault!?"  
"Enough!" Gravak interjected. The two Elves fell silent and turned away from one another.

Buttercup was already walking through the door to explore the new room, closely followed by the rest of the party.  
"Ugh! That's a terrible smell!" Boshley squeaked. "A garbage pit…" he observed. "I wonder what could be hidden here?"  
"Rubbish?" Arden suggested. "Or maybe you're hopeful of finding the lost treasure of Aktraxaterez? There's nothing for us here, let's move on."  
"I think the Gnome's right," Eldarion announced. "Let him take a look, it can't do any harm."  
"Thank you!" responded Boshley with excitement, entirely mis-reading Eldarion's mocking tone. He approached the edge of the pit with the Orcs close behind.

"Stop!" said Gravak suddenly. "Something moved." Everybody peered into the pit, but saw nothing.  
"The boar meat?" Arden suggested.  
They retreated to the door, preparing to toss a haunch of meet towards the edge of the pit as bait. Gravak landed it exactly where they needed. A tentacle reached out, swiped the meat and took it down. A dimly glowing eye opened a few feet above the edge of the pit.

"OK, now I'm confused…" Arden announced. "What has tentacles and floating eyes?"  
"I don't know, what does have tentacles and floating eyes?" Boshley asked, waiting expectantly for a punch line. "Wait… that was a real question?"  
"A Carrion Crawler?" Elantar suggested.  
"Not with eyes like that…" Taldir replied.  
"The Great Tentacled Beast of Arglorr?" suggested Coralyn. "No, wait… you killed that." Everybody laughed.  
"Coralyn… there was no Great… I made it up," Arden told her sympathetically.  
"Oh… really?" Coralyn seemed genuinely disappointed.  
"If you want to be an adventurer girl, a certain amount of dishonesty is… helpful." Taldir said smugly.  
"Then… how do you trust each other?" Coralyn asked profoundly. The question was answered only with awkward silence.

"An Otyugh?" Eldarion suggested, moving the conversation on from a very uncomfortable place.  
"This is the sort of place you'd expect to find one," Elantar agreed. "Never seen one before though; I almost didn't believe they were real."  
"Well, whatever it is, it's going down!" Boshley announced. Before anyone could stop him, he was diving headlong into the pit to confront the mystery beast.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

James had made a decision before this session that Boshley had grown impatient with all of this sneaking around… He made a DM arrangement that the first character to make a stealth check would become the target of his daily (Gnome Racial) use of Prestidigitation to give them 'Farty Feet' (Pat. Pend.).

Given that the spell has no effect on game mechanics, it didn't penalise Elantar's attempts to move silently, which was quite tricky to write up… Trying to justify it by making the doors extra thick and a bit soundproof seemed the only way.

No one else knew that this was coming, so we spent a good few minutes rolling search checks, inspecting Elantar's boots and finally casting Detect Magic to work out what was going on. Boshley (and James) enjoyed this immensely…


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes**

Please note that there are some very deliberate grammar errors in this chapter (I do proof-read it, honest) – you should see why, but possibly not until the next part.

Yes: Mike really did call Eldarion's Animal Companion 'Dog'.

We ended the last chapter with Boshley diving head-first into a rubbish pit to confront an unknown monster.

 *** IV ***

"Help!"

Gravak and Buttercup both reacted quickest to Boshley's panicked scream. The rest of them were still mystified at his sudden decisiveness and bravery. Some of the party, Elantar included, just didn't really seem to care all that much.

"Yep, it's an Otyugh," Eldarion confirmed, more interested in the monster than the Gnome, who was slowly disappearing into its mouth. Everybody moved towards the edge of the pit to get a better view of what was happening, and saw Buttercup trying desperately to pull Boshley free whilst Gravak struck the Otyugh repeatedly with his mace. Coralyn, Arden and the Elves all loaded bows and began to rain arrows and bolts on the beast.

"Phew!" Boshley shouted with relief as Buttercup wrenched him free. "Thank you miss!" Buttercup blushed, perhaps the most frightening expression she could pull off, before turning her attention to the monster.

As Buttercup swung her axe to sever tentacles, Boshley managed somehow to climb on top of the Otyugh. He bought his weapon down and the beast succumbed to a sword in the head.  
"Haha!" Boshley exclaimed. "Easy!" Taldir paused for a couple of seconds, before slowly clapping his hands in mock applause and leaving. Eldarion stifled a chuckle, and turned to head back towards the corridor too. Boshley muttered something under his breath, and began raking through the refuse. The Orcs joined him.  
"How can you stand that smell any longer?" Elantar asked. She got no response, shrugged her shoulders and decided to join the others out in the passageway.

"Shield for you," she heard as she was near the door. Looking back, she saw that Buttercup was handing a metallic slab over to Boshley. It was roughly the same size as his tower shield, but was emblazoned with Kobold insignia and glowed faintly in the dim chamber.

"Are you finished?" Arden asked irritably as the party reassembled back in the passage.  
"We found a wand too," Gravak announced.  
"I'll be taking that!" Taldir declared arrogantly, snatching the short piece of crafted wood from his grasp. Gravak growled irritably and rested his hand on his Mace's handle, but made no further comment.

Eldarion and Elantar had already advanced to the final door; the one that concealed the unidentified beasts.  
"Dire Wolves…" Eldarion decided. "I'm almost certain of it."  
"Three of them?" Elantar asked, looking for confirmation of her earlier assessment.  
"Sounds like it. That rattling sound… Think they're chained up?" Eldarion asked.  
"Let's hope so," she replied, "it'll make it easier on us if they can't move so far."

They returned to report their findings to the rest.  
"We believe they're chained up: hopefully we can get around them without a fight," Eldarion stated.  
"Dire Wolves are dangerous," Elantar added. "If we can avoid conflict, we'd be better off."  
"They are close to the door though, and most definitely awake. We're just hoping they can't reach us and there's room to get through. We should still be prepared to fight them off," the Ranger concluded, somewhat reluctantly.  
"I'll go first," Boshley volunteered. "I want to try out my new shield!"

The Gnome stepped into the room, and was immediately pounced upon. He swatted at the Wolf with his shield, trying to hold it off. He was slowly pushed to his knees, and then onto his back.

Buttercup barrelled into the room after him, and was set upon by a second Dire Wolf. Elantar could see that the wolves were indeed chained to the wall, but their tethers had allowed them to reach almost to the opposite wall of the chamber and the door was well covered: there was no chance of avoiding fighting them off. Eldarion cursed with disappointment, reached for an arrow and began to fire.

Gravak had also entered the chamber, helping Buttercup to fight off the wolf she had engaged. Boshley was trying, and not quite managing, to regain his feet as wolf jaws snapped at him. Elantar moved into the room and into a far corner from the Wolves to get a better view, and plan her line of attack.

"UUUUUUURGRGRGGRHHHH!" Buttercup was hurt. She lay in a growing pool of blood and wasn't moving much. Gravak stood over her with his shield raised.  
"Help her!" he urged the party. Coralyn responded first and tried to get to the Barbarian.

Boshley had managed to get back on his feet, and had the full attention of the closest wolf. Blocking out memories of Demara's Fortress, where this manoeuvre had previously gone horribly wrong, Elantar sprinted forwards, vaulted onto Boshley's head and flipped over the wolf, landing perfectly to its rear. The second Dire Wolf turned to snap its jaws at her, but couldn't reach into the corner where she had retreated. Defiantly, the Rogue severed the hamstrings of the Wolf attacking Boshley, and the Gnome soon finished it off with a fierce thrust of his Bastard Sword. The two remaining Wolves howled in anger, and renewed their assault.

Buttercup was back in the fight, but was still looking woozy; her axe swings not quite managing to land where she intended.

Eldarion lined up two arrows simultaneously, and aimed them both at the second Dire Wolf. It yelped, before falling to the ground motionless. Elantar noticed the two arrows barely protruding from its eye sockets, and surmised that the grim-faced Ranger had pulled off an excellent shot.

Elantar joined Boshley, Buttercup and Gravak, surrounding the final Wolf, and quickly bringing it low, with a little help from the bow-wielding Elves in the doorway to the chamber.  
"Are we all OK?" Arden asked. Not many of them had escaped the fight unscathed, and Coralyn was still assisting Buttercup.  
"Shame we had to kill them…" Eldarion declared, reluctance and pity in his voice.  
"But why were they here? And who chained them up?" Taldir asked.  
"Must be the Kobolds here… Perhaps they were guarding the path forward?" Arden suggested.

* * *

"A cave…" Gravak said. His deep booming voice echoed in the new chamber and it began to shake. There was a crash in the gloomy distance; something heavy had hit the ground. Confused, disturbed and worried, the party all looked at one another for answers.  
"Dog," Eldarion whispered to his companion in Elvish,"go and take a look for me." The hound licked the Ranger's face, before padding off into the cavern. A couple of minutes passed without activity before Dog returned unharmed, but with no further news for Eldarion.

"It must be safe," Boshley declared, and blundered into the room. He only managed a few steps before a rock roughly the size of his head plummeted towards him, clipping him on his shoulder on its way to the ground. The Gnome yelped, sending several more rocks to the ground as he retreated to the Wolves' den.  
"It seems pretty unstable… could it be sound that sets it off?" Eldarion asked, looking to Elantar. The two exchanged nods and entered the chamber. Even with the curse on Elantar's boots, nothing happened.

Within a few minutes, both were safely undercover on the far side of the chamber. Elantar ignited a Sunrod and signalled for the others to follow one at a time.

One at a time, it took a good quarter of an hour or so for everyone to make it across. Arden and Coralyn managed the walk across the cavern without disturbing any rocks, and Eldarion congratulated them both on their stealth. Taldir had made a few rocks drop, but had managed to avoid them as they fell and was unharmed. Buttercup was nursing a sore head when she reached them, and Gravak and Boshley were both stripped to their tunics when they arrived.  
"Coralyn's idea," Gravak explained. "She pointed out that we'd be able to move quieter without our armour. She was right, but we still had to dodge some rocks on the way through."

* * *

"Wait, Gnome!" snapped Taldir. As soon as he'd re-armoured, Boshley had approached the next door and was about to barrel through. Elantar nudged him aside and began to inspect the opening.  
"There's something here. If I can just…" gently, she pushed against the door. "There," she added, as it creaked slightly open. A rope stretched up over a series of pulleys and into the low roof of the cavern.  
"What is it?" asked Boshley.  
"Can't be sure… I think it might be some sort of system to warn them of intruders," she answered. "I think I can disable it."

She reached for a blade from her toolkit, and managed to slot it through the narrow opening with her right hand, whilst gently grasping the rope with a pair of tongs in the left.  
"Are you sure you know what you're doing Rogue?" Taldir demanded.  
"Shut up Taldir," Arden answered. "Let her concentrate." Elantar noticed that several of the party were holding their breath. She resumed, painstakingly sawing through the rope and gently gripped the loose end before it could be pulled away.  
"Got it!" she announced with glee. The party exhaled, almost as one, as Elantar tied off the rope and swung the door open.

As they moved on into the next tunnel, they passed two blocked passages, one on either side. "A cave-in?" Arden asked with a whisper.  
"Either that, or the way has been deliberately blocked," Gravak suggested. Elantar motioned irritably for silence as she listened at the far end of the corridor. She was fairly convinced that there was at least one Ogre waiting behind the door. She could hear muffled strikes in an arrhythmic pattern on the other side as well: as if somebody was attempting to play drums, only very badly. She signalled to Eldarion, and the party prepared themselves to enter. Arden was wincing irritably; Elantar didn't need to wonder too hard what she was making of the percussive sounds.

Buttercup barrelled into the door, catching the Ogre unawares and swinging her axe in a deadly arc. It reeled from her blow and looked to its own weapons. The rest of the party joined her; this Ogre was a little tougher than the others, but still didn't cause them any serious problems and was easily bought low.

The Ogre had indeed been drumming. Four large wooden barrels sat upturned in a corner of the chamber; clubs that had been used as improvised beaters lay discarded near them when the Ogre reached for its axe.  
"Have you ever played drums Arden?" Coralyn asked.  
"Not particularly well," the Bard answered. "Well…" she continued, "better than he did. I've never owned a set to practice enough to master them though."

Without warning, Boshley swung his sword in as wide an arc as he could manage, and smashed the nearest barrel to pieces.  
"What?" he squeaked when the rest of the party turned their eyes on him.

Taldir was far more interested in the walls. "These runes are fascinating…" he claimed.  
"Can you read them?" Arden asked.  
"No… not without working a spell. I'd need to rest first."

Elantar quickly lost interest in the conversation, and was checking the next door over. She found it to be safe and slowly opened it up to reveal a long passage. A steady clunk of metal striking against rock could be heard ringing through the next area.

"It looks like the cavern opens up into several smaller tunnels to either side ahead," she reported.  
"Probably riddled with traps," Taldir observed, time for you to do something useful Rogue." Elantar nodded, trying to dismiss both the Wizard's distain and the feelings of reluctance about going out there alone.

"Or... we could just roll these barrels down the tunnel?" Coralyn suggested.  
Buttercup and Gravak each hefted a barrel, and sized up the throw. Gravak firmly tossed his barrel into the passage where it rolled around thirty feet or so before coming to a stop. Buttercup, gave a disapproving grunt as she raised her barrel over her head.  
"Nah… like dis!" she exclaimed, hurling the barrel with all of her strength. It clattered down the tunnel, and only came to a stop when it struck the door at the far end with a dull thud.

The mine fell silent.

"I'll take a look," Eldarion bravely volunteered. The Ranger swept ahead, peering around the first corner to the left. "Kobolds!" he hissed in Elvish, turning back to them.  
"What did he say?!" Boshley demanded.

Unseen drums began to play deeper in the mines. Arden nodded appreciatively and took out her Flute, as if to fight back against it. A chilling sneer drew all of their attention to the ceiling. They followed the flask that dropped from the murder hole as it fell, scoring a direct hit on the Ranger.  
"Help me!" Eldarion cried, as the flames began to engulf him. The party began to look helplessly at one another, but Coralyn took out a water skin and began to empty it over him. It had no effect.

Seeing no way of helping the Ranger, Elantar slipped passed him and into the cover of the tunnels. It was cramped; clearly dug out for much smaller creatures than her. She took out a sword and edged forward in a crouch, looking back just in time to see Coralyn conjure a surprising amount of water above Eldarion's head. The whole tunnel filled with steam, and the Ranger's cries turned to relieved sighs.

She retreated from the entrance and found a ladder cut into the tunnel wall. The passage came to a dead end only a few feet further on so she began to climb, pausing only to peer over the lip and onto the next floor.

She could see nothing, but could hear the scampering of several pairs of feet. Cautiously, she approached the next corner in the tunnel and took a peek. A single Kobold waited with its back to her. Beyond that, a gap across the main passageway before another pair of Kobolds who were beginning to throw sling fire at her companion. She hoped to quickly dispatch the nearest enemy before leaping across the cavern to engage the ones on the other side.

The Kobold had other ideas, however. She approached it and silently drew her second sword. The cramped conditions worked against Elantar, and her opening strike caught on the rocky ceiling. Suddenly alert to her presence, the Kobold fought back with surprising skill and agility, leaving her with a light shoulder wound. Forced onto the back foot, Elantar crouched and tried to defend herself from the flurry of blows that she faced. Eventually, after taking a couple more minor wounds, she managed to impale the Kobold on a sword, and left it on the cavern floor.

The Mine seemed much quieter now; Arden's Flute was still piercing the air, however, and seemed to somehow be drowning out the drums. Moments later the drumming stopped altogether. Elantar approached the edge of the main tunnel, and looking down and along the passageway, she could see more Kobolds further ahead on both levels, some with slings, a couple with crossbows and some fighting her companions with spears. The corpses of recently deceased Kobolds littered the cavern and the party had pushed on to about half way through. She couldn't see Boshley anywhere, but his cries of hatred were echoing through the tunnels.

Elantar found another ladder heading up into the roof of the cavern. Ascending, she found a short tunnel that lead across to the other side of the Mine; she assumed it came down into the opposing network of tunnels and found that was the case. This had been where the first Kobold had dropped Alchemist's Fire on Eldarion, but there was no sign of it now.

Buttercup was ahead; hunched and struggling to move effectively through the tunnels. The cramped space must have been even harder on the Barbarian than Elantar had been finding it. She seemed to be holding her own though; two Kobolds lay dead at her feet, and she could see others beyond her, including one slumped over a now redundant pair of hand drums.

Elantar was certain to make some heavy footfalls to gain Buttercup's attention before approaching too close, and raised a hand in greeting.  
"Well meet again," Elantar whispered in Orcish. Buttercup seemed taken aback by her choice of tongue, and slightly confused by her choice of words. She responded with something that the Rogue didn't quite understand. "Slowly, we're still learned…" she responded. "Have I checked what's between this curtain?" she added. Elantar could feel a breeze from behind, and hear the distant sound of trickling water.  
"Nevva saw it…" Buttercup answered, and moved to take a look.

A sudden gasp followed by a brief shriek broke their attention. A Kobold in purple robes had rounded the corner, taken one look at the Half-Orc and scarpered in the opposite direction.  
"Wizzud!" Buttercup shouted, taking off in pursuit. Elantar followed close behind. As they rounded the corner, they found that Kobold had vanished. Buttercup hacked at the wall in frustration.  
"A ceilings," Elantar pointed, still clumsily practicing the Orcish tongue, as she gestured upwards to another opening. She put her hand to a ladder rung before the Barbarian shoved her aside and ascended in her place.

By the time they caught up to the Kobold Sorcerer, he was already dead. Boshley stood over it, spattered in gore as his chest swelled with pride. "I got eleven!" he squeaked.  
"Eight…" Eldarion reluctantly admitted. Elantar kept her own kill tally to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

*** V ***

"Anybody hurt?" Coralyn asked.  
"A couple of scratches," Gravak answered. "I think Taldir's probably come off worst." The Wizard leaned heavily on the wall and clutched his left shoulder. His robe hung open and scorched.  
"Yes…" he answered bitterly, "I may need your help…"

Elantar smirked and asked Buttercup and Gravak if they wanted to "take a see at the chamber upstairs". No one else in the party spoke Orcish, and this was the first time any of them had heard Elantar use the tongue. Gravak translated the information, and the three of them left the rest of the party to recover. They were taking a different route back to the upper room, and Elantar was guiding them through the maze of tunnels.

"Your Orcish is coming on well Elantar," Gravak observed, speaking in the Common tongue. "I didn't realise you'd been using it so much."  
"Thanks," the Rogue answered. "I usually pick up languages pretty well. I'm finding your grammar system rather complicated though; more so than I was expecting."  
"To be honest, it does show a little," Gravak responded with a grin.

"Wait," she said suddenly. "Tripwire… Taldir was right about one thing at least."  
"Already broke wun," Buttercup said, motioning back towards the main entrance. "Song-lady-elf fellovarit."  
"What?" Elantar continued to struggle to follow Buttercup's uncouth dialect.  
"Sounds like Arden already fell foul of a trip wire back near the entrance," Gravak interpreted. "Buttercup disabled it."  
"Yeah, ran into it annit broke," she confirmed.  
"Well, no one will fall on this one now. Let's keep going; I'll move ahead and look for any more."

There were no more traps on the way to the hidden room, and none guarding the chamber either. The cavern was roughly circular, with scattered pieces of furniture and equipment tucked away around the edges. A tunnel left the room opposite the opening where they had entered.

"This looks like a good place to stop for the night," Gravak declared.  
"It doesn't sound like anyone else is here here. I'll check for other ways in," Elantar answered.

She followed the narrow rocky cavern for around sixty feet before it ended abruptly at a pool of cool water at the foot of a gentle waterfall. It was bitter, but clean and they'd be able to refill their skins here.

When Elantar returned, she found that Gravak had left to fetch the others, although it took Buttercup a couple of attempts to convey all of the information. Elantar decided to see to her wounds, and Buttercup did the same.

It wasn't long before everyone had reassembled in the Kobolds' living quarters.

"Found myself a set of drums!" Arden exclaimed excitedly.  
"Probably best not play them tonight," Elantar warned. "We don't know that we're alone."  
"I'm not stupid Elantar!" she snapped and retreated to examine her new prize.

Boshley stoked up the Kobolds' fire pit, and they settled for the night to rest.

"If anyone does attack us here, the door's narrow enough for us to defend," Eldarion observed.  
"Want to split the watches as usual?" Elantar asked him. "I'm happy to go first." Eldarion nodded his agreement and set off to find a place to rest.

They had a couple of hours before anybody slept, however. Boshley regaled them all with tales of his home, and of how he had come to hate Kobolds so much. Arden gently sang them a few songs of long forgotten heroes. A couple of these were well known, and some of the others joined in the choruses. Buttercup looked on misty-eyed as Arden performed for them, and had a good go at joining in the songs that she could. Her voice wasn't really up to much though…

Taldir was first to retreat to bed, claiming he'd need to rise early to prepare spells for the new day. Eldarion wasn't far behind, his burns from the encounter healing with Coralyn's help.

Once everybody had fallen asleep, Elantar rigged a simple alarm on the chamber opening and set out to explore the tunnels. The alarm was an emergency precaution: she trusted that her senses would detect anything moving in the mines long before it was a danger. She found several more trip wires in the night and disabled them all; an explosive device and two pit traps as well. There wasn't much to be found in the way of loot. The equipment that the Kobolds had been using was crude and no use to them, and none of them carried any coins.

She woke Eldarion about four hours in. He was silent and irritable, but he was always that way when he woke up. Elantar watched him as she began to fall asleep. Despite all the enmity that had passed between them before, she found herself reassured by his presence, and felt safe as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

A vigorous shake of her shoulder called Elantar from her slumber. Gravak looked furious.  
"What have I done?" she asked him.  
"Not you…" he responded.  
"This is unbelievable!" Taldir bristled. Becoming more alert, she could tell that the whole party were angry about something.  
"What's going on?" she asked the room.  
"Eldarion's gone," Arden answered gloomily. "He's helped himself to all the coin we found yesterday and left us here."  
"But he…" Elantar began. "He was here, just a few hours ago. He seemed fine… this makes no sense."  
"I just can't believe he'd have done this..." Boshley muttered forlornly.  
"I don't seem to have lost anything," Elantar added, after a quick check of her equipment. She was somewhat relieved at that.  
"No one's lost anything personal," said Arden. "He was probably too afraid of waking us."  
"It doesn't look like he touched any of the Kobolds' stuff either," Coralyn added trying to distract them. Leaving their feelings of betrayal aside for now, they decided to turn their attention to the equipment scattered around the chamber.

There were a number of chests around the room, all of which proved to be locked. Elantar had examined them overnight, and was confident that she'd be able to pick them open.  
"Did anyone find any keys on the Kobolds?" Taldir asked.  
"Oh, Taldir…" Arden began. "You're new here, so we'll let that one go." By the time she had finished speaking, Elantar was lifting back the lid of the nearest chest.  
"Gems!" Boshley exclaimed with excitement. Elantar had spotted something else though.  
"Some writing here that I can't read… What language is that?" She asked, "Dwarvish? Draconic?"  
"It's Draconic," Taldir confirmed, as he took it from her hand. "It's a list of gems," he said after a few seconds, "each with a corresponding value." He began to pick through the chest and check it off against the inventory as Elantar moved on to the next chest. The second lock took a little longer to figure out, and by the time she'd got it open, Taldir had checked off the first's contents against his list.

"Looks like they're all here; the Kobolds' valuations seem pretty close to me as well."  
"More stones in this one," Elantar announced as she lifted back the second lid. "They're all black." Gravak took sudden interest and approached her.  
"They look like Onyx," the Cleric suggested.  
"The Kobolds thought so too," Taldir added after examining what was presumably another inventory list. "Twenty-six pieces altogether, and they have valued them all." The black stones were in a variety of sizes, and this, presumably, was what gave them different values. Gravak continued to look on earnestly, and thoughtfully handled a couple of the stones while Coralyn gazed at him cautiously. Elantar had no idea what this could have meant, but turned her attention to the next chest. This turned out to contain a number of alchemical flasks; mostly acid bombs, but a few flasks of Alchemists' Fire, like the ones that they had been attacked with, and five Thunderstones. Taldir had wandered over and snatched up yet another inventory.

"Interesting…" he began, and let it hang in the air. Elantar wasn't about to humour him with any questions. The others had gathered round to look at the new items, and Taldir continued. "It looks like they had a strategy for passing through the unstable cavern that we came through," he announced, reading from the parchment. "They would set off a Thunderstone to drop anything that was loose, and then pass through the cave safely."  
"I for one will find that useful for getting out of here!" Boshley squeaked. Several of the party nodded in agreement.

The final chest contained some equipment: a pair of bracers; a shortbow; a small bag and a rapier, along with several sheaves of parchment. Taldir took these up and began to read. After a few moments, he stifled a chuckle.

"They were fools," he announced. "These sheets contain all of their guesses about these and other magical items in the mine." He turned over a couple of pages, continuing to read, and letting out the occasional "wrong," or "simpering idiot," or something else dismissive. A few seconds later, he exploded into raucous laughter.  
"Err… care to explain the joke?" Arden asked.  
"The wand we found in the Otyugh's pit…" he paused to regain his composure, "the wand… they fed the wand to it!"  
"What did they think that would achieve?" Gravak asked, puzzled.  
"Ha! I don't think they were trying anything... they're victims of their own bureaucracy," he answered. This made it no clearer to anyone, and Taldir continued. "Hmm… This wand… This might explain something." He took out the wand that they had looted from the Otyugh's pit and gesticulated directly at Elantar. She flinched, but nothing happened whatsoever.  
"What do you think you're doing!" she snapped with both anger and relief.  
"Relax Rogue. If they were right about this, I can never use it. They suggest that it is loaded with Divine Magic. Coralyn," he said, handing her the wand, "see what you can make of it."  
"I use Divine Magic too, you know," Gravak announced, glaring at Taldir.  
"I know," the Wizard responded. "Not really your style though, is it? Wands?" Gravak said nothing in response, just quietly glowered at him. Elantar reflected that she'd be handing over whatever he wanted if she were Taldir. The Wizard turned his attention back to the sheets and muttered something insulting in Elvish. Elantar decided to store it for later, should the Orc ask.

He scanned down a few more items and then paused.  
"Gnome, the shield you are carrying," he began.  
"What of it?" Boshley asked.  
"They've guessed at a Least Enchantment spell, which, to be fair, seems likely."  
"It does seem sturdier than my old one," he replied.  
"The interesting thing is how it got there," Taldir paused for effect. He was clearly enjoying the attention and, being the only one present able to read Draconic, enjoying demonstrating his superior knowledge. He'd never captivate a room like Arden could though.  
"Well?" Coralyn asked. Even she was beginning to lose patience with him now.  
"They got their best fighter drunk," he announced, clearly giving up on entertaining them after reading the mood of the party, "and convinced him that he could kill the monster. I suppose we saw the results."

"Anything useful in those pages?" Elantar asked. Taldir glared back at her and turned back to the parchment.  
"There seems to be some items that we haven't found yet," he began. "They note somebody going by 'T', who wears some gloves with a weak transmutation on them. It seems likely that someone else is here still. Whatever it is, it's also carrying an axe."  
"Finally; some useful information…" Elantar said dismissively. "Are we going to be much longer?"  
Taldir ignored her and continued reading. "They have been trading with a Drow, who seems particularly interested in magical items. They've sold it a gem that the Kobolds' state they were glad to be rid of." He scanned down further before stopping.

"Gnome…" he said, peering again over the top of the sheet at Boshley.  
"What?" he replied.  
"The red gem you took earlier."  
"Yeah, it's mine."  
"It's of no use to you," he announced.  
"I found it, I'm keeping it. There's loads of stones here, you can take a different one."  
"None of them grant the carrier the ability to cast extra spells! Hand it over!" He demanded.  
"Boshley…" Gravak began. "I understand that you found it, but if it's more use to someone else, it'll benefit us all." Arden and Coralyn stood poised to agree.  
"Fine…" the Gnome muttered, and threw it at Taldir's feet before retreating to gather his pack. "Elantar's right. I'm about ready to move on too," he announced as he reached his open bedroll.

"Here's an interesting theory," Taldir continued, "but one I've heard before, of course." When nobody responded, he continued. "Magical clothing has been observed to re-size itself to the wearer."  
"Really?" Gravak responded, "let's give it a try."  
He took out the belt that one of the first Ogres they encountered had been wearing and wrapped it around his waist. Gravak was bulky, but the belt still hung loose for a few seconds before shrinking to a snug fit. "Seems you may be right," he added with a nod to Taldir, who began smirk.  
"Do you notice anything different?" the Wizard asked.  
"Well…" he began, pausing to shake his shoulders and take a few steps around the cavern. "My pack seems a little lighter than before." By now, the rest of the party were looking on with interest, and eyeing up the other items that they'd previously thought uselessly sized. Taldir was flicking through the notes the Kobolds had made.  
"They suspected that this was a Lifting Belt," he announced when he'd found what he was looking for. "Sounds plausible if your pack seems less of a burden."  
"Let's pack up the rest and get moving," Arden suggested. "We've still got this other Ogre or whatever to deal with."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

We'd had probably four or five sessions by this point, and Mike wasn't really enjoying playing D&D. Rather than just phasing Eldarion out, he wanted to leave in dramatic fashion, and settled with John on grabbing all he could carry from our collected loot and taking off while he was on night watch. Obviously, we're all friends in real life, so our characters' collected anger didn't leave the game!

John had written up some notes which were made by the Kobolds that we'd just massacred: they read a bit like overly officious meeting minutes, but were a record of observations they'd made about various magic items in their possession. They were a pretty amusing read, and I couldn't entirely do them justice in the story – I'll try to get hold of them again and transcribe them onto here.


	6. Chapter 6

***** **VI** *****

The tunnel behind the door at the far end of the mines was deserted, but Elantar could tell they weren't entirely alone.

"Can you feel that heat?" she asked her companions. They all could. Something particularly warm awaited them.  
"Frowa barrall!" Buttercup suggested.  
"What?" chorused several of the party.  
"There are no more barrels," Gravak answered her.  
"Froawa Gnome den!" she decided. Before anyone could react, Boshley was hoisted off of his feet and launched along the tunnel. He bounced several times along the passage and came to a stop about half way along with a huge crash.

There was a guttural rumble from the far end of the tunnel, and then stillness. In Eldarion's absence, it was solely down to Elantar to check the path now; part of her enjoyed this, but there was a definite bitterness to the situation nonetheless. For one thing, she'd likely be putting herself in more danger.

The silence continued for more than a minute before Elantar crept forward, past the Gnome who had regained his feet. She reached a heavy door at the far end. Stubbornly, the silence continued, but the heat had increased somewhat. Gravak, Buttercup and Boshley had all began to join her when she waved them still.  
"The door's rigged," she whispered back to them.

She was about to examine it more closely when it was suddenly open; a gnarled beast stood over her cackling maniacally. It was both entirely like and unlike an Ogre: its size and bearing similar to the beasts they had come here to hunt, but its scales, horns and scarlet colouring set it quite apart.  
"Elantar!" Someone had called out to her: it was the last thing she heard before passing out.

* * *

The next thing she saw was Coralyn's sympathetic grin.  
"I thought we'd lost you that time," she said in greeting.  
"What happened?" she asked, trying to gain her bearings.  
"The roof came down," she answered, "must have been the door opening triggering a trap. Gravak pulled you out."

She looked around to find the Cleric, but he was in the thick of it, fighting the Ogre-thing that had ambushed them.  
"I need to get up," Elantar announced in sudden realisation.  
"Give yourself a minute, you've had a serious head wound," Coralyn ordered. "Arden's hurt too, but you were more serious. Don't rush into the fight." Elantar tried to stand, but the tunnel seemed to spin about her. The Healer gave a knowing look and a sympathetic smile before turning her attention to Arden's injuries.

Most of the party had been hurt badly by falling rock. It was Buttercup's Gnome tossing that had given them away and made this fight much harder than it had needed to be. The two of them were facing off against the enemy now, hopefully determined to make amends for their mistake.

Taldir chanted and held out his hands. Flame engulfed the Ogre, and obscured it from sight for a couple of seconds. When the flames dissipated, it roared with laughter and continued. It seemed totally impervious to the heat.

She tried to stand again. This attempt proved more successful, and she edged forwards to get a better look at the enemy. Something about it reminded her of a dragon. "Impossible…" she decided.

Gravak retreated from the fight and raised his arms. He uttered a short cant, and several gallons of water appeared just beyond the Ogre where a fire was raging. It was soon extinguished, and for the second time in as many days, they were both beset and obscured by huge clouds of steam. The cover gave her a chance to join the fight, and she leapt in with both swords drawn. Whatever it was that they were fighting, it didn't last much longer, as Buttercup landed the final blow that felled it.

Everyone assembled in the new room. Some kind of throne sat on the far side, carved from solid rock with intricate engravings decorating its surface. Next to where the fire had been blazing sat a huge pile of coins. Everybody paused and looked at it for a few silent seconds.  
"There are thousands…" Gravak began.  
"We can use the sacks that they had upstairs and take as much as we can," Arden suggested. "It'd take hours to separate and count it all here."

"What are these strange markings on the floor?" Coralyn asked from a corner of the room.  
"Runes?" Taldir asked as he joined Elantar to investigate. "No," he observed when he reached what she was inspecting.  
"Quarter circles in the dust. Looks to me like the sort of shape a door would make," Elantar suggested.  
"That's what I was wondering," Coralyn answered, "but there's no door that I could see."

Elantar studied the wall carefully. She was baffled. There was surely a door here; the markings on the floor gave it away. Trying to find the outline, or any kind of opening mechanism proved impossible. She was confident that, if she couldn't, none of her companions would find it.

"Can we go now?" Arden asked irritably.  
"No! We examine this room," Taldir demanded. "There must be some way of opening this door." Frustrated, Arden exhaled loudly and threw herself down on the throne. Taldir waited expectantly, looking to the wall, and then frowned when nothing happened.

After a minute or so, Arden took out her flute and began to play _Sighs of Yesteryear_ while the rest of the party searched in vain for a way to open the mystery door.

"Got it!" Elantar exclaimed after a couple of minutes. Her fingers had brushed against a crack that seemed altogether too straight. A little investigation with her dagger revealed its edge, and once it was exposed, a gentle tug saw the huge stone door swing slowly outwards.  
"Where does it go?" Boshley asked with a squeak.  
"Down?" Arden suggested. It was dark, but they could tell that the climb was incredibly steep and the surface of the tunnel looked smooth. It would be hard going for most of them to get down there.

"I'll have a look," Elantar offered, knowing that she wouldn't find the descent as difficult as the others. She could hear nothing as she carefully began to make her way down. Part way, she began to make out a faint grey glow shimmering somewhere below. Carefully and sure-footed, she descended, reaching the bottom within a minute or so. The tunnel levelled out and led through an open doorway. Intricate stone carvings, similar to those on the throne above them, were visible on an arched frame around the opening.

She froze. A voice had set her on alert, and she instinctively slunk into the shadows.  
" _Return it to us_ …"  
It seems like thousands of voices were whispering.  
" _The Eisenkern_ …" some in unison, others overlapping and talking over one another.  
" _It has been stolen, not destroyed_!"  
She heard the same words in the common tongue; in Elvish; in Giant;  
" _Hidden. Find the Eisenkern_ …" in Sylvan, Orcish and other tongues…  
" _Must not be destroyed_ …" many that she couldn't understand, but she could guess what they were saying.  
" _The Eisenkern_ … _Return it to us_!" The voices were repeating the same words endlessly. She had no idea how long they had been speaking, or if anyone had ever heard them before. She wanted desperately to leave, but felt somehow compelled to enter the room.

She peered around the door. It was more-or-less empty. A shattered statue littered the floor, as if it had been toppled and had broken apart where it fell. A Kobold warrior lay dead in one corner; on closer inspection, it wasn't all that long deceased.

Strange patterns were carved into the floor, forming a perfect circle in the centre of the room. The voices seemed to be coming from here. She was drawn towards it before snapping back to attention and fleeing. She began to climb, her breath rising in panic. The voices continued to ring in her ear.

"What do you want?!" she snapped, turning as she screamed at the room.  
" _Stolen, not destroyed_! _The Eisenkern_ … _Return it to us_ …" was the only response she heard. She gritted her teeth in frustration and resumed her climb.

A rope landed just above her, and then uncoiled to the bottom of the slope. Gravak stood at the summit, fastening the other end to something in the room. She didn't need the rope to climb, but it made the journey quicker. As she ascended, she found that it was in fact several ropes attached together.

"Some of us will need this if we're going down," Gravak said, helping her back into the throne room.  
"You OK Elantar?" Arden asked. "You look a bit shaken."  
"I'm, uh…" she began.  
"What did you find?" questioned Taldir.  
"There's… there's nothing down there," she lied. "Just a broken statue or something. We should go. Shut the door."  
"Nonsense," Taldir demanded. "I'm taking a look myself. We have a rope set up now."  
"Shut the door!" Elantar screamed, looking around at Buttercup, at Gravak, at anyone who might listen. Everyone avoided her pleading eyes except Coralyn, who looked at her with concern and something that might have been understanding.  
"Shut the door! Now!" she demanded again. "You're not going!" she added, and threw herself down at the top of the steep tunnel. Taldir stepped over her and began to descend. Elantar swung a leg at him and totally failed to connect. She wailed in fury.

"Elantar, what is the matter with you?!" Arden demanded, and tried to drag her away from the door. Boshley and Gravak had joined Taldir in the tunnel and were beginning to make their way down.

"Rocks!" Elantar exclaimed. "I like them…"  
"Erm…" Arden responded, quite confused. "That's the floor?"  
"It's pretty!" Coralyn had joined the Bard, and both were looking concerned.  
"Do you think it tastes nice?" She licked the floor.  
"OK, now I'm scared,' Arden declared. "If Elantar's lost it, we're all doomed."  
"It's a bit dry," the Rogue spluttered.  
"Elantar…" Coralyn pulled at her, trying to help her to her feet. Arden was approaching the doorway.

"How's it going down there?" she called. There was no response. "Hello?"  
"I'm goin' as well," Buttercup demanded, nudging Arden aside. The Barbarian had been quite taken with the pile of coins until now, shaking water off of them and attempting to begin counting the haul.

"Arden?" A voice was calling back up the tunnel.  
"Gravak!" she answered with relief. "What's going on?"  
"We only just reached the bottom" he replied. "Taldir's examining something and demanding silence."  
"Do you still not know what that means, Orc!?" Taldir snapped in the distance.

By the time they were all back in the throne room, Elantar had begun to nap.  
"So, do you know what this Eisenkern is?" Gravak asked Taldir. The Wizard reluctantly shook his head.  
"What was down there?" Arden demanded.  
"Spirits. Hundreds of them; maybe thousands," he answered. They're trapped, and demanding the return of something called an Eisenkern."  
"I think they've done something to Elantar," Coralyn speculated. "There's something wrong with her mind."  
"She has little mind to speak of," Taldir exclaimed. "How can you be sure?"  
"Has anyone ever heard her laugh?" Arden asked. The question was met with silence. "It was chilling. I'd rather not hear it again," she added.  
"That's hardly proof…" Gravak began.  
"She was dancing," Arden added firmly. "Can you even picture that?"  
"I'll admit; that's a little concerning…" Taldir replied. "I want to go back to where we were before the mines to examine those runes," he said, clearly with other things on his mind.  
"I'll come with you," Gravak offered. "Coralyn, Arden: are you OK to watch Elantar?"  
"No!" Elantar snapped, leaping to her feet. "I'm coming too!" The party all looked uncomfortably at one another. Coralyn attempted to put her arm around her, but she shrugged it off and walked over to Gravak and Taldir. "You need me!" she demanded with a grin.  
"I think it's just easier to let her go…" Arden relented.  
"No one's _letting_ me do anything. I'm going," she stated. "Come on!"

Gravak and Taldir followed: the former with a look of concern; the latter displaying thinly veiled amusement.


	7. Chapter 7

*** VII ***

Elantar's strange behaviour continued all the way back to the room where they had met and killed the Ogre with the improvised drums. She cartwheeled into the room giggling, closely followed by Gravak, Taldir and Coralyn, who had also decided to come back with them.  
"Oi!" the Rogue shouted when they came to a stop. "The room's spinning!"  
"It's because you've been spinning Elantar," Coralyn explained. "Your eyes need time to re-adjust.  
"I haven't been spinning!" she replied incredulously. "I'm far too serious to do any of that nonsense."  
Taldir couldn't help but enjoy himself with this. "You just summersaulted for over two hundred feet coming back here Rogue. It seemed a little pointless to me, but I suppose lesser minds need to amuse themselves somehow."  
"What you sayin'!" Elantar demanded. "Wanna make something of it?" she asked, brandishing a dagger at him. Gravak grasped her by the wrist and held her back. The Wizard grinned and raised his hands threateningly.

"Taldir…" the Cleric grumbled, "why don't you just look at the runes?"  
"I'm more than happy to do so," he responded. "Keep the basket-case quiet, will you?"  
"She's…" Coralyn began. "Give me a minute… Elantar? Could you come over here?"

The two stepped aside, towards the ruins of the Ogre's drums while Taldir began to examine the Dwarvish writing.  
"We should burn this room!" Elantar announced. "And that Wizard. I've had enough of him. What help is he anyway?"  
Coralyn held her hands to Elantar's shoulders and stared intently into her eyes. When her mind was intact, Elantar shrank away from eye contact. The effects of the spirits had made this action one of amusement for her, and she couldn't help but giggle at Coralyn's furrowed brow.

"Anything?" Gravak asked.  
"Plenty," Taldir responded. "A history of this Mine. Well, for as long as the Dwarfs had it, at least. I suspect there's more history here than they know, this account only reaches back four-thousand years or so."  
"That seems a long enough time to me," Gravak replied.  
"Yes," the Wizard sneered, "I expect it would."

There was an abrupt silence as Elantar's laughter ceased.  
"What was that?!" she asked.  
"It's over now…" Coralyn said sympathetically. "The spirits got to you somehow, took some of your mind. Do you remember anything?"  
"Snatches…" she replied. "There was a broken statue… dizziness… Did I stab Taldir?"  
Coralyn gestured over to the other side of the room, where the Wizard stood examining the walls with Gravak.  
"Oh…" Elantar said disappointed, "that's almost a shame."

"It's not a well-known fact," Taldir was saying as they re-joined the others, "but the Grey Elves actually taught the Dwarves all that they know about mining."  
" _Really_?" Gravak answered sceptically.  
"Oh yes… but we prefer to keep it quiet. It suits us that other races have _some_ cause for ideas above their station. We don't need everyone begging for help unceasingly; those days are long over."

"Coralyn?" Gravak saw they had approached. "How is she?"  
"It's OK," Elantar answered for her, "I'm back. What have we learned?"  
"Nothing." Taldir replied abruptly.  
"Nothing?!" Gravak demanded.  
"Well, I'm sure that, could you read this, you would have learned a great deal. But I have read nothing that I didn't already know."  
"You're walking a fine line here Wizard…" Gravak grumbled.  
"Oh, calm yourself, savage…" he replied, but there was a definite hint of fear in his voice.  
"It's a typical Dwarf mining tragedy. They settled here, were doing rather well for themselves and became wealthy. One day, they dug too deep and unearthed something that they shouldn't, and fled the mine thinking it cursed."  
"Is that all that this says?" Coralyn asked.  
"That's the summary," Taldir replied. "And one more thing; anyone reopening this Mine for business will find themselves besieged by Dwarven legions. It's the typical footnote to their failures… What they can't have, they won't let anybody else have either."

The four began to make their way back to the throne room with the information, Elantar walking this time, trying desperately to remember every detail of her temporary madness and think of a way to dismiss it when she was questioned.

"Hold on a second," Taldir ordered. He slipped into one of the smaller Kobold tunnels off of the main path through the Mine. He returned a few moments later with a small pick.  
"There's something I need to try…" he explained.

* * *

Taldir hefted the pick. It was built for someone much smaller than him and looked almost comical in his hand.  
"I can't believe you're going to do this," Elantar said for what felt like the hundredth time.  
"You know I don't support this either," Gravak added. "You have no idea what's going to happen here."  
"That, as I keep pointing out, is exactly why it must be done," the Wizard responded irritably.

The whole party had gathered in the lower chamber, most of them remaining silent on the issue, but all ready to fight off whatever Taldir was about to set free. The voices were unceasing, constantly demanding the return of the Eisenkern, and Elantar began to once again feel unnerved.  
"I'm having no part of this," she announced, and began to retreat up the steep tunnel. The rest of the party were drawing weapons and preparing to fight off an almost inevitable assault. This shamed her into stopping, and readying her own equipment.

Taldir stifled a chuckle and began to chip away at the carved symbols on the floor. The moment that he had finished altering the first symbol, there was silence. Everybody waited. After a few seconds, nothing further had happened. Most of the party breathed a sigh of relief, but Taldir seemed visibly disappointed.

"I'd guess that you've freed them," Coralyn observed. Taldir frowned and turned to leave.

* * *

Their exit from the mines was far less eventful than the slow and perilous adventure to its heart. They utilised the Kobolds' trick of setting off a Thunderstone in the unstable cavern and all made it through unscathed. There was no sign of any more foes, neither Kobolds nor Ogres. There was no sign of Eldarion either.

The party returned to the surface to find that their horses were not where they had left them. None of them had travelled far, however, and all were rounded up within an hour or so. It was then, for the first time since discovering that he'd left, that anyone had mentioned Eldarion's name. The party were full of bitter words and speculation as to where he'd gone, and whether they'd ever see him again. Gravak and Taldir were both running their mouths off about what they'd do if they did see him again, suggesting loudly to the Forest that he'd better keep out of their way. Boshley was, unusually, rather quiet. Only yesterday, he'd been boasting of his great friendship with the Ranger. All he'd really said was how he'd found it difficult to believe that Eldarion was only in it to rob them, and that there must be some explanation. Elantar didn't buy that though.

The journey back to Torlynn passed largely in silence after everyone had vented their frustrations. They had filled several sacks with the coins from the throne room, and had managed to gather them all together. Without even counting all that Eldarion had stolen, they were bringing back a considerable fortune.  
"Torlynn," Arden announced, thinking that she was the first to see it in the distance. "We should be able to make the midday meal in time, we'll be there in less than an hour."  
"We know," Elantar answered, shoving past her. "There's no need to say everything out loud, you know?"  
Arden shook her head in frustration as she took out her flute and followed her away from the rest of the group.

"It's helpful not to keep every thought silent as well, Elantar! You're making it very hard for any of us to get to know you." The Rogue stared her down, attempting to communicate with her eyes that being known by Arden was amongst the last of the things that she wanted. "Take Eldarion, for example; you've not said a word about him since he left, but I know the two of you were getting on well. It's not healthy to just hold it all in."

"What do you want from me?" she snapped. "Are you expecting me to cry on your shoulder? Shout and scream my hatred to compete with everyone else? Eldarion was useful while he was around, but he's decided that he was… well… I don't know what he's decided, but he's gone, and the only way I'll ever feel anything about him again is the joy of having him not know I'm there as my knife sinks into his neck. I don't need to try to shout louder than everyone else to make myself seem more dangerous, do I? Is that really what you want?"

Arden looked on stunned for a while. Elantar took some perverse pride in leaving the usually far too verbose Bard speechless.  
"I just thought…" she began after a few seconds, "I just thought that you might like to… talk?" Arden said, sounding like she doubted every syllable. "I mean…" she continued before Elantar could respond, "the two of you were obviously quite close. I'm not the only one that thought there might be something… _else_ there."

Elantar found it impossible not to laugh out loud at the suggestion. "Really?" she asked between chuckles. "You really think I want to be tied to someone like that? Or that I'd make a good companion? For anybody? I gave up on any ideas of that sort of thing a long time ago." Arden frowned sympathetically. "It's fine," Elantar continued. "I'm… well… not _happy_ as such, but I've accepted it. It's not what I want from life, and have definitely never wanted that from Eldarion."  
"OK… we were mistaken, clearly," Arden began.  
"You were," Elantar interrupted. "I'd rather not speak about it again."

Arden nodded, and began to play.

* * *

They were well settled in _The_ _Amorous Goat_ and on the other side of a good meal when Gustovan found them.

"Well met, brave adventurers!" he exclaimed in greeting. Elantar wasn't the best at reading people, but there was clearly something different about the Mayor of Torlynn. It was as if he had had several hundred other burdens heaped upon his already straining shoulders. It was also telling that he'd sought them out in person.

Arden rose from her seat and exchanged handshakes.  
"Good to see you again Mr. Mayor! How is life in your fine village?"  
"Well, uh… it's been better, in all truth," he responded.

Elantar knew it. From what she'd been hearing since they arrived in _The Goat_ , Gustovan was losing his grip on his position, and there was talk of a leadership challenge. The ringleader, sitting at the next table with his cronies, seemed a thoroughly unlikable character underneath his casual demeanour and hollow promises. He came across as the sort of person who wanted power just to enjoy it, despite professing to be a man of the people. The future of the small town would be far safer in Gustovan's hands.

"Can we retire to my office?" the Mayor requested. "We have business to discuss," he added almost reluctantly.  
"Of course Mr. Mayor," Arden responded. "We'll just settle up here and be in. Give us five minutes?"


	8. Chapter 8

*** VIII ***

"So," Arden began, taking a seat at Gustovan's conference table, "we cleared out the Old Mine for you. About twenty five Kobolds along with the Ogres."  
"Erm…" Gustovan began, flummoxed. "We only negotiated a bounty for Ogres, did we not?"  
"We did," Arden confirmed. "We'll let you have the Kobolds for nothing. Consider it part of the service!"  
"That's err… very generous of you," Gustovan replied. "Thank you," he added, almost reluctantly. There was an awkward pause. Arden was deliberately leaving space for Gustovan to feel more-and-more uncomfortable. She was manipulating the situation brilliantly, just as when she'd originally negotiated their terms, but Elantar couldn't help but feel sorry for the Mayor now. He was down, and Arden was continuing to put the boot in.

"I, uh… may need some time to, uh… get together the bounty." Gustovan continued after a while.  
"We're not in an immediate hurry to leave," Gravak responded. It looked as if he too had read the Mayor's discomfort and was trying to help. Arden glared at him, pleading for silence and for him to let her handle it.  
"No," the Bard chipped in trying to regain control of the negotiations. "We can give you a few days to get the three hundred gold together."  
"Three hundred?!" Gustovan responded despairingly.  
"Yes, six Ogres, at fifty gold each. Three hundred gold!" Boshley interrupted.  
"We, uh… we were only expecting five. I'll need to see what I can get together," he answered hesitantly.  
"Rest assured Mr. Mayor; there are no more Ogres around," Arden assured him. "Once we get paid for our services, you and your people can get back on your feet without any problem."

"I'm going to go see to the horses," Elantar announced, rising to her feet and making her way to the door.  
"I'll join you," Taldir offered.  
"Arden?" Gravak ventured, "Can we talk?"  
"Sure…" she answered hesitantly. "If we leave it for now Mr Mayor? I'll call in tomorrow to see how you're getting on. We're going to take rooms at _The Goat_."  
"Fine…" the Mayor answered as they left.

"What was that in there?" Arden demanded. Her, Taldir, Elantar and Gravak had all stepped aside when they were back outside. "You were cramping my style a bit, you know?"  
"Do you have no mercy?" Gravak responded. "They clearly can't afford this; the town has been ruined."  
"He should have thought of that before entering into our deal," Arden responded. "We did a tough job for them, and pulled it off well."  
"It's three hundred gold Arden," Elantar observed. "We bought back thousands from the mine. We don't need it."  
"You're welcome to give up your share," Arden answered angrily, turning to leave "but I'm taking what we negotiated, and nothing less!"

"We should give her a couple of hours to think it over," Gravak declared once she'd left. "She'll come around."  
The three of them re-joined the party; there was no sign of Arden anywhere. Coralyn said that she'd seen her stomping off in the direction of the _Pig's Britches_ with her flute. The conversation turned to the haul of coins.

"I don't know if I can face counting them all this afternoon," Elantar said. "How about seeing if there's a money changer here who'll do it for us?"  
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Boshley answered. "More time for drinking!"  
"I don't know about giving it all over to some stranger…" Taldir wondered aloud.  
"I don't trust anyone here to do it," Gravak echoed.  
"Well, you two can count it all then," Boshley decided. "I'm going to the inn, just keep my cut safe!" The Gnome turned on his heels and was gone. Coralyn chuckled and then made her apologies. She looked very much in need of a rest and followed closely behind Boshley.

"I'll 'elp," Buttercup offered, and opened up the nearest sack, dropping to a crouch. "Wun, too, for, sum, lowdz…"  
"And how many is that?" Taldir asked in disgust.  
"Coynz!" she bellowed back at him.  
"Err…" Elantar offered.  
"Buttercup…" Gravak said gently. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Boshley? It'd be just like him to cause trouble here. If he does, he might need your help."  
"Yer, ahright," she answered, dropping the rest of the coins from her fist and taking up her pack before following Boshley and Coralyn to _The Goat_.

"So… are you in Elantar?" Taldir asked. "It'll only take a couple of hours for the three of us."  
"I already made it quite clear that I wasn't up for that," she replied irritably.  
"What else are you going to do?" the Wizard snapped. "Go and make some friends"?  
She glared at him bitterly.  
"OK…" she reluctantly agreed. "Let's find a room to set up in."

* * *

"I've had a great idea!" Arden declared at breakfast the next morning.

She was the last to reach the table, having gone to bed latest after entertaining the crowds at several of Torlynn's taverns. Elantar, Gravak and Taldir had all retired soon after counting up the loot, and had apparently missed quite a show. Boshley had been speaking enthusiastically about the previous evening; he looked like he'd had quite a night, but showed no signs of a sore head.

"How about," she continued, "we let Gustovan off of the payment?"  
Gravak turned to face her, but made no sound. Elantar speared another sausage on her dagger and continued eating. Taldir made to begin speaking, but somehow couldn't find the words.

"I thought you said it was a great idea?" Boshley responded incredulously. "Giving up our payment? That's madness! He was in here last night, the Mayor. Looked like he was calling in favours, collecting cash off of the landlord."  
"Hear me out," she said, taking a seat. "Elantar, how much coin did we bring back from the mine?"  
Elantar fixed her with a steely gaze, wondering why it had taken her so long to come to this conclusion. "Just over two thousand gold pieces worth," she announced after a few seconds.  
"See?" Arden declared before dropping her voice, "Gustovan owes us three hundred. Two thousand between us…"  
"No," Elantar firmly interrupted. Everybody looked at her. Taldir grinned. "Just over two thousand gold. _Each_ ," she responded, punctuating the last word and letting it hang in the air.

Arden let out a whistle. "So… that underlines the point even more!"  
"Some of us came to this conclusion yesterday half-breed," Taldir declared, finally addressing the elephant in the room. Arden shook it off, and continued regardless.  
"My point is," she continued, "that we don't really need the fee. It's pocket change to us now. Let's get the whole town together again…" She was interrupted by several groans around the table.  
"Let's not, eh?" Boshley suggested.  
"He's right," Elantar added supportively, "we don't need another exhibition, let's just go and tell Gustovan that we're letting them keep it."  
"Why? I mean, why waste the opportunity?" the Bard asked them all. "We could live like Kings here for as long as we wanted!"  
"I don't know what you're used to," Gravak said, "but as far as I'm concerned, we have it pretty good here already."  
"And Gustovan's alright," Elantar added.  
"Yeah…" Boshley agreed.  
"He's in a desperate position," Coralyn added, joining the conversation. "Letting him off would be a beautiful gesture; he'd let the town know how generous we've been. I think…" she added hopefully.  
"In any case…" Gravak said decisively, "it may not be wise to be so crass about it. Generosity is far more valuable when it is given in secret, and others boast of it for you."  
"Alright," Arden responded reluctantly. "We'll do it your way. _This time_."

The town outside seemed to have changed a little overnight. Where the previous day, they had been welcomed as heroes, today saw glares of either bitterness or, at best, indifference from most of those that they met. Marcos, the _Goat's_ landlord had not been present at breakfast, but he was less than warm towards them as they passed him on the way to Gustovan's Manse.

"Did he have a cow here yesterday?" Boshley asked as they reached his door. The aged brown animal stood tethered on his front lawn, chewing away at whatever greenery it could reach.  
"No, I don't think so…" Arden answered.

The Mayor himself looked tired and harassed. Sigmund had confided on their way in that he'd only managed to snatch a couple of hours sleep early this morning, and asked them all to excuse his appearance.  
"Good morning, brave adventurers!" he managed to say in greeting. He was pretty convincing too.  
"Good morning, Mr Mayor," Arden responded as they all took seats.

"Now, please let me explain our situation," he continued.  
"Tha…" Arden began, but she was cut off by a swift gesture from the Mayor.  
"We have had some difficulty gathering your payment, but I believe we can offer coin and goods equivalent to the fee."  
"Mr M…" Arden tried again, but he continued.  
"I'm afraid that a lot of it is in rather small change," he said, hefting a considerable sack of coins onto the table, "but this totals two-hundred and seventy gold exactly."  
"Sir, ple…"  
"Please allow me to finish Miss Arden!" he interrupted again. "Now… the remaining thirty gold, I would like to offer to you in the form of your fees for your upkeep here, and also the fine creature that is currently enjoying my front lawn. Are these terms acceptable?"

They looked on in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. Beads of sweat began to flow rapidly down Gustovan's forehead.  
"Well?" The Mayor asked, beginning to look a little panicked. "You couldn't wait to speak before… Are these terms acceptable?!"  
"Mr Mayor…" Arden rose to address him. "We have returned from the perilous Mine north of here, having completed a very difficult task for which we are due…"

"We're waiving our fee," Gravak interrupted, also taking to his feet. Gustovan had almost begun to cry before this interruption. Clearly, the Cleric was in no mood to toy with him any longer.  
"Really?" Arden asked. "You wouldn't even let me do that?"  
"Let's go, Arden," Coralyn said, taking her by the arm and leading her towards the door.  
"Wait!" Gustovan commanded. "I really cannot begin to thank you enough…"  
"Really," Elantar responded. "It's fine."  
"The part about your bill at _The Goat_ ," he added, "I want to uphold that. The town will pay for your upkeep here, as long as you need to say."  
"Thank you Gustovan," Gravak offered. "I don't think we'll be here more than a few days longer. We'll check in with Eldrann and Taran, and we'll be on our way as soon as they're ready to leave.

* * *

 _Torlynn, the following day_.

Elantar returned from her hunt while it was still dark. Being an Elf, she needed only about half the sleep that the others needed each night. She'd gotten an early night and then risen around midnight and headed out into the forest alone. Taldir had similar sleep requirements, but he preferred to spend the other half of each night pouring over scrolls and reading and meditating upon spells.

Taran and Eldrann were yet to turn up any news on her family history; they'd only had a couple of days so far, and there were thousands of scrolls to sift through. They had needed to begin packing the parchment into crates for the journey south to Dennovar, but had promised to continue to search once they had set up back in the capital.

The town was deserted; it was still about an hour until sunrise, and she didn't expect to see any of her companions for a couple of hours yet, which gave her plenty of time to clean and shape the new fur for her cloak. She smiled while she worked, as she began to imagine the look on Boshley's face when he saw her new Badger skin garment.

She was almost finished when she suddenly stopped. She spent a good few minutes considering her actions, and her situation. Experiences from the past few days were replaying in her mind, certain words echoing to her. This was a strange collection of people she'd become involved with, but she felt somehow part of them now. There had been some cutting words exchanged, but they worked well as a team. Eldarion's disappearance had seemed to unite the rest of them too, forming stronger bonds between them. Added to the debt that she owed Gravak, she now had Coralyn to thank in a similar way. Each of her companions may have some unlikeable characteristics, but she knew that they were reliable, and would be willing to help her when needed; Eldrann and Taran's search being an obvious example. Elantar had never really experienced that before.

"This is no way to win friends…" she suddenly heard herself saying out loud. She cleaned off her dagger, re-sheathed it and sat wondering what to do for around ten minutes before a shutter opened on a building across from her. Derrian, the only Tailor in Torlynn, was opening up for the day. Reaching a sudden decision, she took up the new pelt and approached him.

"Derrian?"  
"Y-yes?" he answered nervously.  
"Do you think you could use this?" she asked, holding the fur out to him. He took it gingerly and seemed to relax a little. "I have no need for it anymore. I'm afraid I may have ruined the edges a little… but I'm sure you can save enough of it."


End file.
